Zealot (Build)
A Zealot is a Paladin build that uses, as the name suggests, Zeal as main attack. This is usually accompanied by Fanaticism, which boosts damage and attack speed. Zealots are very good at Player vs Monster gameplay, but a poor at Player vs Player fighting. Skills: Primary skills: *Zeal - 20 *Fanaticism - 20 *Holy Shield - 20 Zeal is the Zealot's main attack. The Zealot relies on a good melee weapon and then maximizes damage output with Zeal. Fanaticism is the most common aura used in combination. The increased attack speed is crucial for zealots so that they can finish their attack quickly in case they start dying during their attacks. Of course, it also increases the rate that zealots and their parties can do damage. Holy Shield is used mainly because Zeal is best with fast one-hand weapons, which makes it natural to use a shield in combination. With Holy Shield the paladin's block rating is boosted considerably. Not all zealot builds max holy shield, as the defense and block boosts are already very substantial at level 4 or 5 if coupled with good gear and skill boosting equipment. Zeal can be used with the faster 2-handed weapons as well, but this is not recommended. In this case Holy Shield is nearly useless of course and the build becomes wholly offensive. Though it is risky (the Paladin will take a lot of damage) and the only gain of this version is a higher damage output, the two-handed Zealot can survive because Zeal cannot be interrupted, and even a fairly low amount of Life Steal will be sufficient to restore the paladin's hitpoints. Synergy skills: *Sacrifice - 20 *Defiance - 20 Zeal receives a 12% synergy damage bonus from each level spent in Sacrifice. In addition, in the early levels Sacrifice is a decent skill to have, dealing high damage at a relatively low cost. Defiance is a synergy for Holy Shield. It is not required to max Defiance since Paladins often have a very high defense rating anyway, but any spare points may as well be placed here. Utility skills: Resist Fire, Cold, and Lightning all passively increase max resistance through synergies. Redemption is an useful aura to have, both for mana and health regeneration and to prevent monster resurrection. Vigor is useful for trekking through large areas or for corpse retrieval. Meditation is useful for party play among mana-starved allies, while Salvation is useful for allies with less magic resist. Equipment: For a viable Hell Difficulty character, there are three attributes which are considered almost necessary for a melee character to finish the game: Some amount of Crushing Blow, Cannot Be Frozen and stacking resistances. Once these attributes are built to a proper level, the player can then work on some of the other attributes that will help make his Zealot more effective. Some (but not all) of these things would be Life/Mana Leech, Increased Attack Speed, Faster Hit Recovery, Increased Block and Faster Block Rate. The list below has many items a player may never see or be able to manufacture. In this case, it will not hurt to look over the more inexpensive items to obtain the attributes to make the character durable enough to finish the game. Weapon: 1-handed: Grief: High damage, and is one of the few items what transfers damage when using Smite. Often made in a phase blade due to the -30 Base Attack Speed, and the character's Dexterity is usually over 120 to maximize block percentage. Breath of the Dying: Pretty much the highest damage weapon, especially when made in an ethereal berserker axe. Stormlash or Crescent Moon: Although the former is superior, the latter is easy to manufacture. Death: high percentage of Crushing Blow and Deadly Strike chance as well as decent damage. Last Wish: Life Tap proc, Might Aura', '''and the huge Crushing Blow chance. Preferred in a berserker axe. 2-handed: The Grandfather Colossus Blade and Doombringer Champion Sword. Ethereal Edge Silver-Edged Axe, Hellslayer Decapitator and Messerschmidt's Reaver Champion Axe The Cranium Basher Thunder Maul Ethereal Breath of the Dying Great Poleaxe / Colossus Sword / Champion Axe Ethereal Death Colossus Sword / Cryptic Axe Shield: Herald of Zakarum Gilded Shield for blocking related bonuses, resistances, and skill bonuses. Exile Rune Word Ethereal Vortex Shield for the Life Tap proc, aura skill bonus and the innate Defiance aura. Helm: Guillaume's Face Winged Helm for Deadly Strike and Crushing Blow Crown of Ages Corona for the sockets as well as resistance bonus and physical damage reduction. Andariel's Visage Demonhead for its +2 skills, poison resistances and life leech. Armor: Tyrael's Might Sacred Armor for the plethora of bonuses. Leviathan Kraken Shell has physical damage reduction and huge strength bonus. Shaftstop's big brother. Arkaine's Valor Balrog Skin has faster hit recovery, 1-2 point bonus to all skills and level dependent Vitality bonus Runeword Archon Plate Runeword Archon Plate Belt: Verdungo's Hearty Cord Milthril Coil Nosferatu's Coil Vampirefang Belt String of Ears Demonhide Sash Thundergod's Vigor War Belt, great for Lightning Absorb, Strength and Vitality and Maximum Lightning resist. Gloves Dracul's Grasp Vampirebone Gloves Boots Upped Gore Rider Myrmidon Boots Amulet Highlord's Wrath Amulet The Cat's Eye Amulet Metalgrid Amulet Mara's Kaleidoscope Amulet The Eye of Etlich Amulet Ring Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band ring for more lifesteal, life and skills. Raven Frost Dwarf Star Hireling Although many players solo with their characters, Hirelings can certainly increase the survivability of any character if maintained properly. Typically, most choose the Act 2 Defensive Mercenary in Nightmare Difficulty (the "Holy Freeze Merc") or the Offensive version (the "Might Merc"), but the others have plenty of potential if geared properly. The Helmet and Armor are standard choices, the only thing that would vary are the weapons. Act 3 Hirelings with cold attacks used to be popular, but are rare now due to many monsters being immune to their attacks. Although Barbarians are quite rugged, they can be overcome by large mobs. On the other hand, properly equipped, he can definitely play a major factor in increasing the character's survivability. And the Rogue should not be counted out either, although without particular gear her ability to assist in later stages of the game diminishes by quite a bit. Although the weapons vary, the armor and helmet choices are mostly stock, with some variance in regards to armor. 'Helmet' Guillaume's Face: Crushing Blow and Deadly Strike. Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest: Mostly for the 10 percent life leech and +15 to Resistances. Vampire Gaze, Crown of Thieves and Stealskull are also popular choices for their ease of finding and life leech. Kira's Guardian or Darksight Helm: The reason for choosing either helmet is the Cannot Be Frozen attribute. 'Armor' Fortitude Runeword: 300% Enhanced damage against everything. Duress Runeword: Features 15% chance of Crushing Blow. Gladiator's Bane: Cannot be Frozen and integer damage reduction at a level that actually makes a difference. Hwanin's Refuge: Static Field proc. Still useful even if lightning immunes aren't affected by it in Hell Difficulty. Treachery: may be of more benefit to a Rogue for the Increased Attack Speed. Skin of the Vipermagi. Iron Wolves can make better use of the Faster Cast Rate as they usually attack from range. Duriel's Shell: For Hirelings, this armor is prized much for being relatively easy to find, its Cannot be Frozen attribute and Vitality bonus. 'Weapon' 'Rogue (Act 1) Faith: The Fanaticism aura and obscene damage are the big perks of this bow. Ice: The chief reason for this selection is the Holy Freeze Aura. Witchwild String: Amplify Damage proc and two sockets to customize it with. Riphook: Slows opponent and Open Wounds. '''Desert Mercenary (Act 2) Hone Sundan: Crushing Blow and three sockets. Reaper's Toll: Decrepify Proc. Obedience: Crushing Blow and an Enchant Proc. Infinity: Boasts a Conviction aura. A very popular runeword for those specialized in elemental attacks as it will break many elemental immunities. Insight: Has a Meditation Aura that will help alleviate mana demands. Once could also add Breath of the Dying, Last Wish, Death or Doom as well, as these are very powerful. They are also equally difficult to create. 'Iron Wolf (Act 3)' Spirit Sword and Spirit Shield: This combination will give the hireling excellent resistance bonuses as well as a total +4 to their skill levels. Lidless Wall: Has +1 to all skills and a Faster Cast Rate bonus. Rhyme: Has Cannot Be Frozen and Faster Hit Recovery. 'Barbarians (Act 5)' There are numerous swords that a Barbarian can use that listing them all would be impractical. Here are four uniques and four runewords particularly beneficial to them: Bloodletter: Fast, and has life leech. The sword will likely be obsolete by early Hell, however. Headstriker: Level dependent Deadly Strike as well as level dependent maximum damage. Azurewrath: The base damage is a bit low, but the added damage makes this blade frightening once it can be equipped The Grandfather: Very high damage and Attack Rating bonus. Lawbringer: a relatively cheap runeword with a Decrepify proc. Breath of the Dying, Grief, Death are also options, albeit difficult ones considering the runes required. Playing in a team: The Zealot is one of the most preferred subclasses in a group. Most of the Summoning Necromancers, Barbarians, Amazons, Shape-shifting and Summoning Druids, and Martial Arts Assassins will benefit from your Fanaticism aura.